After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

The tour continued forward and they eventually reached the more developed part of the territory.

The two lords quickly realized they hadn’t seen anything yet as they moved deeper into the territory, and it was even livelier than they expected. They soon saw more and more people, chatting and laughing, most of whom had baskets or bags in their hands.

They also had more and more activities going about—whether it was staff delivering raw materials, people taking down signage covers, or salespeople hanging out in the streets, hoping to sell something.

”Guests!! Buy two and get one free!” Someone yelled, holding a wooden sign outside a store. ”Promo available on opening week only!”

Not too far was another shop with a promoter as well, but he was carrying a wooden plank with cubes of sweets. ”Free taste! Free taste!”

Reverberating with his voice was another salesman right next to him. ”Opening Week Promo! Buy one shirt, get a handkerchief for free!!

”You will not only be comfortable, but also handsome!”

Then somehow he zoned in on the two of them (as if his eyes were magnets attracted to the two of them) and he pretty much teleported in front of them. ”Handsome men! Want to shine more with clean, new, comfortable clothes?”

Handsome-men-with-dirty-clothing, ”...”

In fairness, before encountering Alterans, the two of them were really well-put in comparison to everyone else.

Their lips twitched, and they ended up entering the store. Whether it was curiosity or shame, they refused to dwell on it.

It was a simple store with wooden mannequins and hung clothing. It was low-end compared to what they had seen in Terran, but in the middle of the mountains in a new world, this was amazing to see.

There was also a complete set of underwear. The colors were plain and limited, but it made the two of them sigh in relief.

Anyway, both of them ended up buying a few sets.

As soon as they went out, the food salesman appeared right next to them, also smiling with teeth exposed (he had surprisingly white teeth; can they ask him how he did it?)

Anyway, this salesman was apparently polite enough to wait for their transaction to be over, and now that they were out he seemed to have imprinted on them.

”Free taste!” He said and they couldn’t help but take a second look at the samples. They were a bit… unsavory-looking and odd-colored. But the man seemed to not see this, as he proudly presented his craft.

”A-Ah, Thank you.” The men said, awkwardly taking the ugly-looking cubes. Under the eager stare of the man, the two of them had no choice but to taste.

When the snack melted in their mouths, the two of them couldn’t help but blink and look at each other. ”It’s rice snacks,” Micheal said, ”It tastes nice.”

Obviously, the materials available were still different—for one, they didn’t have the conventional sugar—but it felt delicious anyway. It also explained the odd color, as the rice here wasn’t white.

Anyway, they also bought a few boxes.

Of course, not every store had staff outside, with some only having signage to show what they offered. However, every shop had people coming in, and the entire streetscape was bustling with activity.

Some were alone, while often they were with someone. Many people had baskets in their hands, going from shop to shop, with the basket getting filled up bit by bit every few steps.

The two lords were shocked by the vibrancy—people chatting, shopping, selling—with undeniable smiles on their faces.

Life. Peace. Prosperity.

It almost felt like the end of the world didn’t happen.

”It’s amazing…” Matthew whispered to no one in particular, but Micheal nodded in agreement.

They looked at the shops they passed by. Even from the outside, they had an idea of how business was booming. They were also surprised at the sheer variety of foods and products.

They thought they’d seen miracles with the food the team brought to their territories, but it turned out to be the tip of the iceberg!

There were noodle shops offering a variety of noodle dishes, there were bakeries boasting many options, and there were canteens offering different viands every day.

This was just a few of many.

Other than food, there were also various stores focusing on wood products, earthenware, leather, and many others.

The two turned their heads to ask Fred how this was done, only to see him watching their reactions in interest.

The two stiffened a bit in embarrassment straightening their spines to appear more formal.

Matthew cleared his throat. ”Where do they get the raw materials?”

Fred smiled, ”The Gaea Grocery Store, of course!”

They remembered the stories they gathered on the way here. ”This is the property of one of your elders, Ms. Althea?”

”Precisely! She’s the Elder for Plant Research.” He said. ”Almost every food you see has her handwriting on it.

”Not only did she bring in the common plants from Terran, but she also raised local plants to fit consumption.”

”Very admirable,” Matthew said, thinking it was an old grandma. Micheal, on the other hand, smiled mysteriously.

”It would be lovely to meet her…” He just said, his velvety voice entering the ears of women around, fascinating them.

Fred cleared his throat, ”From what I heard, she was usually in her laboratory, so she’s rarely seen at this time.”

”I see…” They nodded in understanding as they continued walking. As they observed the surroundings, the lords couldn’t help but put forward some of the other points of doubts they encountered so far.

”I’m curious, in our panel, we have set buildings. The two of us compared and saw the options to be the same. Are all these buildings manually constructed?”

Fred paused, actually not sure about this.

But thinking about how these buildings just appeared overnight, he found an answer in his heart.

”Most of the commercial buildings should be system buildings since they literally appeared overnight. The bigger ones, like the supermarket, were built by the construction team.”

Fred paused in front of a two-storey building. ”Like this one,” He said, ”This is one of the buildings that were built manually.”

”It’s one of the two inns along this avenue, the more affordable one. It is also one of four in the whole territory. The other two are at the ends of Market Street; I’ll show you later.”

The two looked at the building closer to study it. It was a two-storey building that had a simple but good-looking facade, but its architectural style followed every other building around, making for a visually pleasing continuity.

There was also a garden along the easement with colorful local plants, and beside them were small pathways to allow guests to admire the greeneries.

Michael’s sharp eyes observed the differences. The facades between the conventional shops and the inn were different, while the commercial and some residential units had the same skeletal layout.

As a lord, he naturally knew they could do some customization of system buildings for a price. That was to say, the base building of the commercial and residential units was the same.

He then remembered there was a custom building option. Very likely, it was this neglected function.

He had been tempted before, of course, it was just that he couldn’t afford it. He also had no idea if it was flexible enough, thinking it could consume an important building slot.

At the time, he simply opted not to use it.

But seeing the advantages and potential now, he made up his mind to put it on his priority list.

Sigh.

It seemed his vision was still too narrow.